Are "religious" people BAD people?

There seems to be some who have the attitude that religious people are BAD people. If a religious person does anything good in their life it is seen by some that they are only doing it for their eternal life not for the sake of doing something good. As if the only thing they live for is their eternal so-called reward in heaven.

Is it black and white?

Are they bad people just because they believe in God? There are many good people who are believers. Many. They may not have fully thought through WHY they believe in God or the evidence that supports that there IS no evidence for a God or they would be Atheists. But just because they haven't walked the same journey you have in life, or were born in to a religious family, does this make them a bad person?

Some of you seem to think that just because a person believes in a God, this somehow makes them bad. If you truly believe this I have a questions for you:

Who are YOU to judge another person like that? Are you not then just as judgmental and closed minded as the very people who you say are bad people? Does this make YOU a bad person?

Replies to This Discussion

I'm told I kinda fit into the deist category. I believe in God in the respect that there is a source of the energy in the universe but that's about it no weird people on clouds controlling our fates etc. I just found it hard to argue with facts and the more I heard the double talk and the just illogical debating that went on in order to try to convert someone to this lie of Christianity I felt sickened. I now have a desire to spread the real truth about Christianity but need to educate myself more. Any suggestions as far as books go?

I was exaclty at that stage around six months ago. I am proud to say that this changed since I follow several atheists accounts on Twitter, including Godless Spellchecker. He said: If God is a kind of energy, then why call it God?
I haven't read much books because my parents wouldn't approve it, so I have read countless articles, listened to debates, and Twitter/documentaries.

I hear you George. You know exactly what is going on. Once a person breaks free of the delusion and can see it for what it for the lie it is, we tend to become very angry. I've been free from Christianity for years and I still get angry about the deceptions of the Christian faith.

Just because someone believes in God, does NOT make them a bad person! However, the simple fact that they 'believe' is more than enough for me to not trust anything they say.

Believers 'believe', which to me means they have the mental ability to accept the existence of unicorns, 'life after screwing this one up', and moderate Republicans. To think that this type of frivolous playing with the truth doesn't spill over into their thoughts about serious adult subjects like social, economic and political issues is foolish and irresponsible on the part of anyone who listens to them.

However, believers probably feel the same way about atheists. I'm sure religious people feel that if atheists are demented enough to not believe in the giver of life and the savior of their souls, then they're probably ghoulish enough to think women are actually people, human babies are great cut up in salads, and the end of days was the latest episode of last season's True Blood.

I don't put much stock in the argument that 'they do good' either. If it weren't for religion, the world wouldn't be full of ignorant populations of constantly multiplying and starving people to begin with. But then religious people wouldn't have the chance to be seen as 'doing good' now would they? Anyone can do good, including atheists. But if the religious and church folk want props for being the most giving, let 'em have it. Hell, they don't pay taxes, they should be giving something back.

Religious people are not bad people. But they either believe in, or are members of, or align themselves with, or are supporters of; a nasty, greedy, murderous and raping network of belief-based businesses that rule over all of the major populations of oppressed, starving, sick and dying people on this planet. They should be imprisoned, given shock therapy, or at least ashamed of themselves. But alas, we elevate them to the level of aristocrats.

Religious people, cannot be separated from the religions they believe in. And any sensible person should be wary of thinking of them otherwise. If you give money to a religion that murders and rapes, then you support, and are a part of, the murderous acts and rapes. Period! Religious people: they are part of the overall reason that our world is full of ignorance and stupidity. Past that, I don't have a problem with them. Praise Lilith!

Everyone judges other people. If one uses logic and reason after digging for the facts then one's judgment will be better than using feelings or religion as a basis. We judge a multiple murderer like Jeffrey Dahmer to be bad and that judgment is a good thing because then we treat him appropriately.

As for religious people: in my experience (and I am open to more facts but not so open to other's feelings) the more religious a person is the worse they are, generally speaking. It is not an either/or situation but a sliding scale. And that individual's behavior should be examined to see if they are an exception.

Since no one is perfect, that makes evaluating the mildly religious as mildly bad which makes them normal decent people.